


Promise

by ThomE_Gemcity_06



Category: The Chronicles of Nick - Sherrilyn Kenyon
Genre: AU, Blood Deal, Canon-Typical Violence, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Manipulation, M/M, Mind Control, Romance, Temporary Character Death, alternate ending included, probable OOC
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-27
Updated: 2016-09-27
Packaged: 2018-08-18 05:10:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8150173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThomE_Gemcity_06/pseuds/ThomE_Gemcity_06
Summary: Nick decides to tell Kyrian about being the Malachai, just as Cherise thinks this foolishness has gone on long enough, leaving Nick vulnerable and perceptible go outside influence.





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've only read the first three books (Infinity, Invincible, & Infamous) so if their are mistakes, in standard facts, I apologize in advance.
> 
> Pairing: Nick(18)/Kyrian -established relationship- -
> 
> Character: Nick, Kyrian, Cherise, Rosa,  
> w/: Bourban Street, Sanctuary, 
> 
> Characters Mentioned: Acheron, Ambrose, Noir, Madaug, Artemis
> 
> Secondary Note: (Obviously AU) (Probably OOC)

**Part 1**

**C —H—R—O—N—I—C—L—E—S ~ **O—F **~ N—I—C—K**

  
_Darkness and despair slowly became his home. He couldn't remember ever feeling this... desolate before. He wanted to feel something, anything, other than this pain that he was feeling right now._

 _Ambrose always told him that it was Acheron's betrayal and his mother's death that sent him to Artemis_ — _he never said it would be his broken heart._

...  
**[... Before...]**  
...

Cherise watched her son as he paced the length of their house on Bourbon Street's living room from where she was in the kitchen, making a cup of coffee before she headed to her job at Sanctuary. She was having second thoughts. He had a nervous and desperate energy about him. And knew that it was time to step in when he looked about to start biting his finger nails and pulling his hair.

"Nicky, baby," she spoke gently, taking her boy's shoulders and stopping him in his tracks. "What's wrong? You were up even before I was."

He was shifty in her grasp, like he needed to keep moving, but he would never push her aside or walk over her like that, so he made himself focus on her. He looked down at her, an undecided expression on his face—she'd come to learn exactly who that expression was associated with, at least while discussing it with her.

There was going to be trouble.

She'd only recently found out about their relationship. While she didn't care whether Nick preferred boys or girls, and just wanted him to be happy and unashamed of himself, she'd been totally broadsided when he'd revealed to her that his boyfriend was actually an older man (though he only appeared to be in his mid-twenties at most).

Not once, in all these years since they'd know Kyrian, did she once notice any attraction of the sort between the pair, though she could only say that she'd been with them both at the same time, only a handful of times. It never seemed like that. She'd always suspected Kody, or maybe even Caleb. She would have been fine with either of them, they were his own age, they were _appropriate_. Her mother-intuition had been malfunctioning in this regard.

Nick was biting his cheek but forced himself to stop. "Kyrian hasn't called me back."

To distracted with his own troubles, he missed the guilty but determined flicker of her eyes. "I'm sure he's just busy, sweetie."

Nick shook his head and pulled from her grasp. "He said he'd call."

Cherise sighed. "You both have lives apart from each other. You can't always be together."

Nick pulled at his dark brown hair in distress, only seeming to be half-listening to her. "I don't understand! He said he understood, he said it didn't matter to him. He promised!"

She looked at him in concern, obviously she was missing something, obviously there was something that she hadn't accounted for.

"I can't do it without him. I just can't." A sob broke through and he dropped onto his knees to the floor.

Cherise instantly went to him and gathered the young man in her arms. fourteen-years-old, eighteen-years old, 5'8", 6'4"—none of that matter. He was her baby, no batter what. She pressed him comfortingly to her bosom and cooed to him and gently rocked him, just like she'd done when he was a child. "Shhh. You're the strongest person I know, Nick. You can get through anything."

The pain in his chest was harsh as he cried in his mother's arms. "He promised he wouldn't leave me, he promised!"

She hushed him, hugging him all the tighter, her cheek pressed to his crown. She'd know that it was a bad idea and doomed from the start—dating your boss never worked out. Hoping and dreaming was not the glue that held a relationship together, it was work that did that. And she wasn't about to let her baby's life be ruined by it, so she did was all mother's did—she’d taken care of her baby.

**...**  
**[... Before...]**  
**...**

Even after all these years, after all the preternatural bounties hanging over his head and the Daimon battles for his power, Noir's pursuit of his soul, he'd still managed to keep the fact that he was the Malachai from his mother. He'd lied and fibbed and hung on by the skin of his teeth to the truth—but he hadn't been able to hold it back from Kyrian any longer.

He loved the Dark-Hunter with his heart, his whole body. If he ever believed in soul mates, Kyrian was his. He didn't care how sappy or girly that sounded. It was the truth, it was how he felt even if scum like him—a monster destined to destroy the world—didn't deserve this kind of hope and happiness.

But he clung to it with all his strength, and would continue to do so—no matter the fire their relationship was under. And now, he was going to douse it in gasoline and lighter fluid, and then hand Kyrian the match.

"Nick, are you—"

"—I'm the Malachai!" he blurted. Not exactly the way he intended to tell the man his deepest and darkest secret.

Kyrian stilled as he registered what he had just confessed and looked across the room at the teen, stock still, his expression stoic. He'd only been about the ask his lover if he was staying the night—this was entirely not what he'd been expecting.

He'd been teaching Nick about the preternatural, ever since he decided to make the teen an official Squire, but he never remembered telling him about the Malachai.

"Where did you hear that?"

Nick knew that he couldn't spill everyone else’s secrets, so what was he supposed to say? He couldn't very well say that it was his dear 'uncle' Ambrose who told him, because Ambrose was not his uncle, but Nick himself from a completely different time-line. That wouldn't very well help his confession of being a monster, now would it?

"Remember when we first met? That whole thing with Madaug and the jock-bies? It was a Mortant that told me when it tried to get me to play the game and control me."

Kyrian knew _of_ the Malachai, anyone attached to the preternatural worth his/her/its salt knew about the Malachai. A most powerful and dark Demon. Unfeeling and uncaring. Once matured, it can only be killed by its own offspring.

That didn't suit Nick in the least. Of course, he could sense that there wasn't something human, that there was something powerful about Nick. He wouldn't call himself a Dark-Hunter if he couldn't at least sense that—but for him to be a _Malachai?_

It was just too unbelievable.

"Nick—this isn't funny."

Nick shook his head and swallowed. The Dark-Hunter didn't need super-hearing to pick up the uneven and rapid beats of Nick's heart. "It's not, I swear." His hands clenching and unclenching at his sides.

He'd never told anybody that he was the Malachai before, and obviously he was doing a bad job of it. How did you explain to your boyfriend that you were a demonspawn, the worst kind of scum and darkness and death and destruction? It would have been easier if he had to admit that his favourite colour were pink to an assembly of his piers and that he secretly watched ballet and figure skating—which were all untrue.

He stole himself. Kyrian stayed still as Nick walked up to him, tense. And felt the teen's sweaty palms as he reached up and cupped the man's handsome face.

"I love you." Nick told him seriously, firmly. "And no matter what, I'll understand..."

Kyrian's tongue froze, because for an instant, for just the fraction of a blink of an eye, Nick released all the concealments on him, his camouflage—and he felt the potent power that the teen possessed.

Though Nick had no where near mastered his powers as a Malachai yet, he knew enough that he was still one of the most powerful Demons in the world. And in the fraction of a moment, Kyrian felt that competence.

Nick was reluctant to let go of the man, even after he concealed his power again. He was afraid that once he did, the glass would finally shatter after this fracture and he wanted to prevent that for as long as possible.

He could feel the man shaking slightly through where he cupped his face, his magic still swimming through his blood. His dark green eyes were unfocused, and Nick thought for a moment that he might have broken the man.

"Kyrian?" Nick whispered.

Kyrian's gaze sharpened and focused in an instant, his Dark-Hunter instincts kicking in. He fought the survival instinct to strike out and jump away. Nick, feeling his impulse anyway, reluctantly let go of the man and took a step back.

Kyrian swallowed quietly as Nick stood in front of him, waiting for the executioner's axe to fall. He looked like the same man that Kyrian had unexpectedly fallen in love with, but what he had just learned and felt. Nick was _the_ Malachai.

Nick stuffed his hands into his jean pockets, ill at ease as the silence stretched. Whatever the immortal chose, the teen wouldn't force him into something that he didn't want—he wasn't that kind of guy, no matter how much it hurt him.

Kyrian finally reached out behind him and pulled the chair closer before collapsing it. He pushed his finger through his neat locks, leaving it mussed. "I just need a bit to process this, Nick, okay? I'll—I'll call."

His breath caught in his throat. "Promise?" Nick asked, almost like a little boy, scared.

Kyrian nodded. "I promise, Nick."

**...**  
**[... After...]**  
**...**

He might have been the most deadly of Demons, but he was still human. He was still raised by a loving mother to love. His heart was what made him human, it was also his biggest weakness. It left him attached, and it left him vulnerable.

It was causing him the worst pain he'd ever know.

**...**  
**[... Before...]**  
**...**

Kyrian had made several big mistakes, two thousand years left a lot of room for improvement, but those always were proceeded by the mistake. What drove him to become a Dark-Hunter was being betrayed by his wife, whom he had trusted and loved. He swore that he would never love again, that was why he went to Artemis, to get his one act of revenge and not have to love again.

But two thousand years later, he met a punk kid in eye-watering, tacky Hawaiian shirts, with a smart-mouth and a pension for attracting trouble, three-years later and the teen convinced him to put his heart on the line again.

He'd been such a fool. Not because he feel in love again, but because of how he'd reacted when Nick confessed to him about being the biggest and baddest bastard in the whole Demon World.

For the longest time, Acheron didn't even know what the kid was. Just that he would impact his life in a huge way. The concealment on him had been incredible, powerful enough that not even him, a god could see through it. So what chance did a two-thousand year-old Dark-Hunter such as himself have of detecting it?

But it didn't matter of Nick was the Malachai. From the very start Kyrian knew that he was different, and when the teen had revealed his powers, the blonde knew that he was no normal Malachai either. He wasn't evil and sadistic, of course he would defend himself and his loved-ones, but he didn't derive a sick pleasure out of it. Being _Nick_ was what defined him, not being the Malachai.

He'd been about to call Nick, to tell him the truth, when Acheron showed up and he was dragged into urgent Dark-Hunter business.

**...**  
**[... After...]**  
**...**

He didn't want to die. Nick couldn't do that to his mother, he was all she had, and now that same could be said for himself. All he wanted, was to not feel this pain. It tormented him every second. It haunted his waking and his slumber. It tore at his inside, shredded it heart. It was drowning him. He didn't have the appetite to eat, his days were a haze of pain and sorrow. And he just wanted it to end, he didn't want to feel this way anymore.

When he finally came to a realization on how not to feel this anymore, feel anything—dread filled him when it was concluded that he had no way of getting in touch with her. His only contact to get through to her would have been Acheron or Kyrian, and the latter didn't want him anymore and Nick didn't want the former to try and stop him.

But he needn't have worried. She came to him. His pain called to her even as it was another that he truly craved.

...  
**[... After...]**  
...

When he sensed the presence on his property, he went to the door eagerly. He wouldn't be Nick if he wasn't persistent. But when he opened the door, it was not his lover, but his mother instead. Cherise might have been a small woman, but she was fiercer than most beasts that he faced when it came to her son.

She stood there on his front steps, her hands planted on her hips and a scolding and disapproving look on her beautiful face. Kyrian didn't feel like a bad-ass Dark-Hunter in that moment, but an infant under two thousand.

"Cherise, _ma petite_ —"

"Your relationship with my son, was foolhardy. I disapproved of it from the beginning, and this—this just proves how right I was. You have broken Nick's heart, do you hear me? You will not see him any longer, he will not be working for you anymore." Cherise told him strictly. "Despite all of this, I would still like to thank you for the kindness that you have shown us in the past. Thank you. And please refrain from contacting my son, you've hurt him enough to last more than this lifetime. He doesn't want to see you anymore,"

And the woman was gone as fast as she'd come, leaving carnage in her wake.

Kyrian couldn't move, the only thing holding him up was his locked grip on his door jamb. It was as if he'd been physically injured and it transferred onto his heart. He groaned low in his throat in heartache, his other hand clenching at his chest—his injured heart.

"Mr. Kyrian?" Rosa questioned in concern from behind him.

"Rosa," he gasped. "What do I do?"

"Go to him." She said. "Mrs. just being protective of her son. He love you. You love him. Go make right."

**(tbc... in Part 2!)**

**C —H—R—O—N—I—C—L—E—S ~ **O—F **~ N—I—C—K**

 


	2. Part 2 ... w/ Original Ending!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pairing: Nick(18)/Kyrian -established relationship- -
> 
> Character: Nick, Kyrian, Cherise, Artemis, Caleb, Kody, Noir  
> w/: Bourban Street, Sanctuary, Garden District, Fringe
> 
> Secondary Note: (Obviously AU) (Probably OOC) Continues straight from Chapter 1. With Original Ending.
> 
> Translations (Greek to English): [1] ένα γλυκό =Sweet One ; [2] αγάπη μου = Darling.

**C—H—R—O—N—I—C—L—E—S ~** O—F **~ N—I—C—K**

**... [... Elsewhere...] ...**

Nick had been in his room a moment ago.

His mom, seeing his condition, had impressed upon him that she was going to stay home from work and take care of him. Somehow, with energy that he didn't have, he convinced her that he was an adult and he could take care of himself, all said with a forced smile that he wasn't sure or not she chose to see as real. (though, unbeknownst to him, at that very moment, instead of at Sanctuary, she was in the Garden District, pushing the Dark-Hunter further away).

Now, he was nowhere in his known world, that much he knew for sure. It was a different dimension. He was starting to panic, this couldn't be good. The first time this happened, he'd nearly been killed by a bunch of Noir's dog-bug pets. His go-to, even after all these years, were to call on Caleb and Kody, but he didn't get that far.

"Dear Ambrosius, we finally come face-to-face at last!"

Nick was startled at the sudden intrusion of the delighted woman's voice. He came face-to-face with a very beautiful, busty, red-haired, green-eyed, tall, robed Goddess. Her power was like a warm blanket that wrapped around his shoulders, but he could feel the cold weight lingering on the edges. His instinct told him to watch-it around her. One wrong move and who knew what could happen.

She noted his guarded and confused expression. "Oh, of course you don't know who I am. You called for me, did you not, ένα γλυκό **[1]**?" she chucked him sweetly under the chin and he shivered at the touch.

"Artemis." He didn't realize he'd called to her, he had just thought about her.

"Sometimes, that's all it takes." She purred, readying his mind.

He internally groaned and didn't even try returning the favour. He was a Demon and she was a Goddess; there was no comparison.

"Come, sit." And suddenly there was a red velvet couch and she was sitting, patting the spot next to her. "We have a lot to talk about."

Not knowing what else to do, and not wanting to get on her bad side, he slowly came over to her and stiffly sat on the couch. She didn't seem to notice or care as she pressed herself against his side, and her scent invaded his senses—an intoxicating smell that invaded his senses and clouded his mind.

"Let's make a deal,"

Nick found himself nodding, looking into her green eyes that somehow just weren't the right kind of green. He knew that they should be dark, but he couldn't seem to remember quite why. And if her eyes flickered black, he didn't quite notice because it must've been a trick of the light—and the question of 'what light?' didn't cross his mind either.

He just wanted this pain to leave him, to stop squeezing his heart inside his chest so cruelly.

He wondered if this could be considered a kind of suicide. But he wasn't killing himself, he was, in fact, extending his life for the price of a missing broken heart.

**... [... Elsewhere...] ...**

"What's happening to him?"

"He's in the fringe," Kody told Kyrian.

"Unlike all other Malachai, instead of thrashing at the world in anger or pain, Nick turns it inward onto himself." Caleb sighed. "He really is one of a kind." He ran his fingers tiredly through his dark locks, not sure whether he meant that as a compliment or an insult—it was probably both.

"But why?" the Dark-Hunter perched on the edge of his lover's bed, the same set he had gotten the teen when he turned fifteen as a birthday present.

"He different than any Malachai. He was raised to love by a mother that loves him, because of that, the human half of him that has a consciousness is still intact. He has the capacity to feel his own and others' pain and wanting to comfort them." Kody explained, gazing gently at the unconscious teen.

_He doesn't look like he's in pain._ He wanted to believe that so much, but he just knew it not to be true. His fingertips traced the lines in Nick’s handsome face. This wasn't traditional pain, it was the worst kind—a broken heart, and it was all his fault. He had just needed time to understand, that was all.

He'd already been on his way here in his Lambo when Caleb had suddenly appeared in the passenger seat. If it weren't for his reflexes as a Greek General in another life and a Dark-Hunter in this one, he might've run off the road. As it was, he pushed past the surprise at finding out that Caleb (or Kody) wasn't just any eighteen-year-old(s) either (Kyrian must really be slipping in his old age), and had put the peddle-to-the-metal as he was told the gist of the situation. Kody was already waiting with Nick in his bedroom, in her own world as she perched on his bed and held his hand. She seemed reluctant to let him, but it wasn't her place. Kyrian might've been jealous had more important things not been the cause for concern.

Kyrian started as Nick's skin flashed from it's usually tawny colour to that of swirling Demon skin.

"Uh-oh." Caleb muttered. "We’ve got to get him outta there, before something bad happens."

_And this wasn‘t?_ "So, what do we do?" These two were the ones that were experts in this side of Nick's life, after all.

Kody and Caleb shared a look.

"A physic connection." Kody finally said, "In the state he's in, Nick's power can be unpredictable, but he's familiar with our presence internally. Kyrian, you'll connect to Nick's unconscious mind first, and then Caleb and I will link-in through you and into Nick."

Kyrian nodded and turned back to the teen, taking his hand, both as a physical anchor to this plain and to his target, Nick. He closed his eyes and focused his mind. It took a long moment, but he found the stream of Nick 'soul' as it was before he felt Caleb and Kody put a hand on either of his shoulders, their power and thoughts urging them forward.

And then suddenly, Nick’s room was gone and they were somewhere unfamiliar in the fringe.

His gaze instantly zoned in on Nick, sitting on the couch next to a tall and beautiful red-haired woman, and his eyes narrowed. "Artemis." He tensed and he could feel the other two on either side of him do the same.

The three of them knew what this meant. Nick intended to sell himself into the service of the Goddess and become a Dark-Hunter. Fresh guilt and shame ripped through the immortal man anew—he was the one that drove Nick to this.

He could still remember what it felt like after he discovered his wife's betrayal. The pain to his heart and soul was a thousand times more harsher than the physical torture that he had been put through. It was obvious that Nick felt the same, otherwise he wouldn't be attempting to go this far.

Artemis looked at him with a piercing look. "He came to me, hunter." She replied coldly, referring to him by not his name but his designation as a Dark-Hunter.

Kyrian had only met Artemis once, when he traded his soul to her to become a Dark-hunter— it wasn't something you forgot easily—and this wasn't the Goddess. "Who are you?" he demanded.

Artemis' appearance melted away to reveal a muscular man with dark hair and dark eyes. He gave them a twisted smile.

"Noir!" both Kody and Caleb gasped, instantly on the defensive.

Double swords suddenly appear in either of Caleb's hands, and sparking fireballs filled Kody's. Whether on the job or not, Kyrian is never weapon less, they were hidden, scattered, concealed. His skin itched to pull them but he waited. He couldn’t be foolish now, not when Nick was literally in Noir's arms.

Nick furrowed his brow as he looked across at the three of them, a faint flicker of recognition in his blue eyes before it faded. He didn't appear overly concerned that the Artemis from before just transformed into the Malachai's worst fear.

"What did you do to him?" Kyrian demanded.

Noir chuckled, seeming unconcerned that he was out-numbered—something that didn't bode well—especially since even with the three of them, they still weren't sure it would be enough to drive Noir away—especially if he had his claws in Nick.

"As his former lover, I'm sure you're confused—so I'll explain it to you. The Malachai is not made for love and compassion, it is a weapon for death and destruction—under mine own control—and I've allowed you to have enough control over him. Actually, it's thanks to you that I have him indeed. I should be thanking you, hunter, not scolding you. You brought him back to me."

Kyrian seethed at his words, guilt and shame tearing at his insides because what Noir was saying was true—at least half of it was. He was the one that drove the teen to seek out Artemis (who Nick believed this still was, trapped in Noir's influence), had pushed the vulnerable teen into the waiting arms of his worst nightmare—Noir.

"I won't allow you to harm him!" the Greek General shouted.

"You're the one that caused him all this pain—I'm the one that's going to make him all better... he'll be the monster he was always supposed to be, craving not love and acceptance, but death and blood." Noir waved his hand in front of him and that was when all hell broke loose.

Dozens of them flew down at them from above. They were like a cross between a monkey and a dragon—gritale, attack demons. Kryian pulled out his concealed sword from his long coat, and instantly cut one of the creatures in half as in dive-bombed his head. Kody was throwing balls of magic flame and electricity on one side of him and Caleb's blades were moving at an inhuman speed on the other, their shine quickly dulled by black blood.

There was a break in the bodies and Kyrian tried instantly to get to Nick, but the hole was filled just as fast as more and more creatures kept coming.

He couldn't lose Nick. He'd managed to survive his wife's betrayal, one of the sole reason that he wanted revenger. But if he lost Nick... he'd already traded his soul—he'd given Nick his heart—if Noir turned Nick, Kyrian would have nothing left—he'd be nothing!

His attacks became more desperate as his fear started to overwhelm his senses. He'd been a Dark-Hunter for two thousand years, but it was as a lad in the Army that he'd learned to control his fear, not let it overwhelm him—it was this that helped made him a great General. But even then, he didn't love his wife as deeply as he love Nick. Sometimes, when he truly allowed himself to think back on that time, there was that inkling of mistrust that he held for the woman—but one he never felt for Nick—despite the teen having been hiding a life-altering secret.

His fear was making him slip, sloppy, and more and more, the creatures' attacks were getting through his defences. Not only that, he could feel himself tiring as time wore on and though more powerful than him, under the sheer onslaught of bodies, Caleb and Kody were not far behind him.

Nick was sure something was wrong, but the strong scent in the air tried to reassure that everything was fine—but there was a loud uproar going on that distracted him from the black eyes that were supposed to be green, but still weren't the right green. His thoughts were even more muddled, like they were being torn apart before he get a clear picture.

The pain in his heart, his entire body was slowly being snuffed out into nothing. That was what he wanted, wasn't it? He wasn't sure, he couldn't seem to remember. But the pain in his chest was turning cold and hard, freezing into shards as the haze over his mind thickened.

As he looked from the dark eyes, the arm around his shoulder feeling more like a violation than a comfort it was supposed to be, and to where all the clamour was coming from. It looked like a big cloud of flying, churning gnats, the one that were common to walk through on a hot summer's day.

And then it parted briefly and he saw a tall and beautiful blonde man struggling, covered in blood and injury, desperate, and just before it closed up again, their gazes caught. The pain in his chest roared.

Those were the right kind of green.

He felt pressure on his chin and was forced to look away, and back into the black gaze. Nick furrowed his brows. As the scent tried to pull wool back over his eyes. He wanted to see that man again—the pain in his chest warring with the warmth and safety that blonde man brought to him.

He grimaced as his chin was squeezed painfully and saw the hatred and glee in the eyes staring back at him. They weren't supposed to be black, they were supposed to be green and filled with love. The man in front of him was all dark and black, but that other man, he was... Light.

"Who are you?"

Noir cursed. Nick's Malachai powers were finally starting to repel his concealment charm as the Demon realized that it was being forced back into its power place, under Noir's command. It was that stupid man, the one that had contaminated his Weapon in the first place!

The Dark-Hunter needed to die and be disposed of in order for his emotion-wipe of the Malachai could harden and take hold. If Nick no longer felt that love, than that hold over the Malachai part of the teen would vanish and he would finally be under Noir's control, just like it was meant to be.

Nick’s attention was pulled away once more as a huge exoskeletal bug zoomed from the dark above into the cloud of gnats and something about it tickled the back of his mind at the creature's familiarity—but that wasn't what broke him from Noir's spell... it was the injured shout of the blonde man and the strong smell of his blood that was suddenly in the air. It over-powered everything else and shot right through his head—awakening him from a slumber, it felt like.

Kyrian.

Noir was taken by surprise as Nick's skin suddenly turned from its human tawny colour, to the Malachai's swirling demon shade. Nick's eyes snapped to him, no longer the grief-stricken, hurt blue of a broken-hearted human teen, but the cold and hate-filled reddish yellow of the Malachai. Noir had only time to tense before Nick grabbed him by the throat and pinned him still with a single hand, the sheer force of his power pinning the Primary God.

"Die at the hand of the Ambrosius Malachai!" his voice was monstrous, inhuman.

Noir let out a scream of pain as Nick plunged his other hand right into Noir's chest and grabbed his heart. Dark and pale light burst from his chest as Nick's power imploded the God from the inside out, destroying him.

And a moment later, the God that had enslaved his kind for centuries was no more—and his attack dogs disintegrated along with him.

On his feet, Nick turned towards the two barely standing Daeva and Immortal, and the Dark-Hunter on the ground between them.

"Kyrian!" he screamed, his skin and eyes fluctuating back into their human state as he ran to his two friends and lover.

He pulled the man's head and shoulders into his lap, holding him.

It took a moment too long for Nick to separate which blood was the gritales' and which wounds were Kyrian's. The gaping, smouldering hole in his chest, right at his heart, was all that needed to be said.

"No..." he shook the man, desperate.

"Nick..." Kyrian's voice rasped quietly.

"Kyrian!" he gasped, looking into the hooded, dark green eyes he'd been longing for.

"'M s'rry, N-Nick." With a shaking hand, the dying man (not quiet dead yet because of his Dark-Hunter convenience), reached bloodied fingers up and grazed Nick's wet cheek. "I-I—luh-l've, you..."

Nick caught his hand as it dropped clutching at it as he stared down into Kryian blank gaze.

The break in his heart was audible.

"I'm sorry, Nick." He hardly heard Caleb murmur and then he wasn't holding Kyrian in his arms anymore.

Panic seized him as he awoke back in his bedroom, laying on his bed. He quickly grabbed Kyrian, who was slumped on the edge of his bed—his hand was cold and limp in his.

"Kyrian! Kyrian..." but the man didn't move. Nick clung to the man, a sob breaking through his throat. "You can't be dead, you can't be dead!" he pleaded, shaking the man. But the blonde was like a doll in his arms.

"Nick—" Kody's voice was filled with sympathy and she gently touched his shoulder.

"No!" he screamed at her, jerking from her touch. The only one he wanted to touch him was Kyrian, but that was never going to happen again—never...

He didn't look hurt, not a hair was out of place—in the mortal world, at least. Nick would never forget the sight of Kyrian dying in his arms. He wished he could believe that the man was just sleeping, but he knew what the looked like when he did that—and it was nothing like this.

"We should leave them alone," Caleb told Kody quietly, seeing Nick like this, so broken, was bringing back memories of his own past, his own family, his own love. He didn't want an audience then, and he knew that Nick didn't need one now—at least not a physical audience.

"But—" Kody started, unshed tears shining in her eyes—though Caleb was sure they were more for Nick than they were for Kyrian.

Caleb grabbed her arm and they vanished from Nick's room—they were not going to argue about it in front of Nick like that. It was times like that, that he wondered how he was the 'Demon' between them. Nick had only ever saw the good in her, but Caleb was the one that knew the truth and it would be a day of reckoning when Nick finally found out.

Nick sobbed as he buried his face in Kyrian's neck. He'd though his heart had been broken before, but it was shattered to unrepairable pieces now. Kyrian didn't leave him, he'd come for him—but now Nick had lost him forever.

I am here, Nick.

Nick's heart leapt into his throat as he heard the Greek accent and he jerked his head up, staring at Kyrian—but his eyes were still closed, his face slack—dead. Nick's heart died all over again. He could have sworn that he'd heard the blonde Greek speak and it just made Kyrian's death hit home all the more harder.

Come to me, Nick, and I can save him.

Nick sucked in a sharp breath as he heard the voice again, but this time it sounded distinctly female.

"Who are you?" he demanded, looking around the room with narrowed and wet eyes.

I am Artemis.

Nick scoffed in disgust and hatred. "I'm not falling for that again! I called to you before, but you're just a lie! You're the reason he'd dead! Dead!" he screamed.

I can save him. Do you want your lover back? Come to me and I will save him. I will give him back to you...

Nick gave a hard sniff and rubbed at his face with the back of his hand—if there was a chance, any chance to bring Kyrian back to him, he'd do anything.

Anything...

...........Xxx

Kryian never used to fear death, not when he was a human, and not when he became a Dark-Hunter. That only changed after he met Nick and fell in love with the pain-in-the-ass teen. But he couldn't be dissatisfied about it either. He'd fought for Nick. He was able to tell his lover that he was sorry and that he loved him. He wished Nick would be alright, now that he was gone. He had Caleb and Kyrian could now be glad that Kody loved Nick so much. They would take care of Nick, and that was all he could wish for.

Hades' flames melted his dark-green eyes, 'cause Gods' knew he'd done questionable things in his overly extended life—but then he found himself looking at the beautiful Greek Goddess of the Hunt and this time he knew it was no Noir-in-a-pretty-mask.

"You're finally awake," she remarked, her accent deep and enchanting. "He truly loves you, αγάπη μου **[2]**."

Before Kyrian could voice his confusion, in the blink of an eye, Artemis disappeared.

His cheek was pressed against Nick's familiar chest, and he could feel the rapid beat through his clothes. Nick arm's were wrapped tightly around him as he was half pulled into the teen's lap as he was grasped.

"Nick?" Kyrian looked up, his voice not that of the dying like it had been before, but of the rightly confused.

Nick paused and looked down at Kyrian to find the man's eyes open and staring back. His heart soared in his chest. He'd made the deal with Artemis, and just as promised, Kyrian was his again.

Nick crushed his lips to Kyrian's, desperately. The last time he'd held the man, he was dead and bloody, and he was broken himself.

Kyrian didn't fight him, as confused as he still was—when he thought that he was going to lose Nick... well, he wasn't going to be that stupid again. He reached up and palmed the nape of Nick's neck, pulling him closer, pulling him deeper into the kiss.

Slowly, they slowly pulled apart and Kyrian sat up proper across from Nick on his bed.

"How?" he wondered. "What happened."

"I held you in my arm, and you were dead!" He grabbed the front of Kyrian's coat desperately, intensely. "I did what I had to do!"

Kyrian didn't much like the sound of that, and Nick clearly read his expression.

"I don't care what you say!" Nick told him defiantly, his blue eyes bright with unshed tears. "I couldn't lose you. You would have done the same thing, I know you would have."

"You're right," he said quietly after a moment and Nick couldn't help the look of surprise at the plain admission, "But the truth of the matter is, that you are more important to the world than I am. I'm just another faceless, nameless Dark-Hunter." Nick gave a vehement exclaim in protest to this. Kyrian brushed the teen's cheek with the back of his knuckles. "It's true. I learned that today. That was part in why I was so desperate to get to you—and to tell you how much I love you and how sorry I was that I turned away from you. You're special, Nick, how many times have I told you that? You're one of a kind, Malachai or no."

Nick shook his head, a stubborn look on his handsome face. " _You're_ important to _me, your_ life is more precious than _mine._

Kyrian stared at him intensely, but Nick held unyielding and the man finally gave a breathless sigh. "What trouble did you make in payment for my life?"

Nick shrugged. "It was just a bit of blood."

"For you, just a bit of blood could mean the world. I'm sure Caleb and Kody have told you that a million times."

Nick looked sheepish but determined. "I'm an adult. It's my life!"

Nick pushed his hands into the Kyrian coat and pushed it off his shoulders.

Kyrian watched him curiously. "What are you up to?"

Nick gave him a devilish look. "The house is empty, boy, and were in my room. Where do you think this is going?"

Kyrian laughed. "You're incorrigible!" but he allowed Nick to push him back against the mattress.

"I'm a teenage boy, how do you think this was going down." Nick pushed the man's chin to the side, exposing his neck, kissing the flesh. With deft fingers, he undid the buttons to Kyrian's collared shirt, one after the other. Nipping at his bare collarbone first before he rested his cheek on the man's chest, listening to the strong and steady beat of the blonde’s heart.

Kyrian ran a hand over Nick hair. "I'm not going anywhere," he whispered.

Nick pushed himself up and grinned down at the half-naked man. "Damn right! I'll tie you to the bed if I have to!"

Kyrian cocked a brow. "Is that a threat or a promise?"

"Dirty old man!" he ran his hands down Kyrian's ripped bod. For a two thousand year old, he was third-degree hot; the most bangable mess Nick had ever laid eyes on. "Is that all you think about?"

"Only since you turned up," Kyrian said truthfully. "You didn't answer my question: threat or a promise?"

Shifting down so that he was now perched on the tops of Kyrian's thigh, Nick slowly started to undo the man's belt, looking mock thoughtful. "Mm... a bit of both." He popped the button and pulled down the zipper fluidly and Kyrian could feel his blood rushing.

He never felt this way with his wife, and it wasn't just the sex either. Locking eyes with him, Nick cupped Kyrian through his open fly and watched as the man sucked in a pleasured breath, his fangs flashing.

[a/n: Original Ending starts now...]

He was almost selfish enough to let Nick keep going even as he felt another presence in the house—Cherise was home early.

He gave a quiet sigh. "You're mother's home."

Nick paused. "What?"

Kyrian sat up regretfully and gave Nick a kiss. "Your mother's back."

Nick turned towards the door and sure enough he could hear her as she hung her jacket and purse and took off her shoes. "Crap!" he cursed under his breath before he looked back at Kyrian with a stern look. "This is far from over, boy... promise."

The man smiled back at him and the pair scrambled to make themselves more presentable and less lovers-interruptus. The last button was done-up on Kyrian's shirt, their legs flinging over the side of the bed just as Cherise stopped in the doorway, whatever she'd been about to say freezing at her lips as she saw her son was not alone.

"Hi, mom!" Nick greeted her a bit overly cheerful, "You're home early!"

She was clearly surprised to see Kyrian there, especially after she made things clear with the man just that morning. She glanced between the pair suspiciously. "I was worried about you, so I asked for the rest of my shift off—plainly I was right to be concerned."

Nick shot a glance over at Kyrian. Though he was sure she wasn't referring to what they'd just been doing a moment ago, it must've been the state he'd been in for the last couple days because Kyrian didn't have the chance to call. He felt like a right idiot about that now—especially after all the trouble that his little meltdown had caused.

She read his expression clearly. "After the pain he caused you, boo, I don't think it's a good idea for him to be here right now." Cherise said firmly.

Nick was about to protest when Kyrian put a hand on his arm and stopped him; this was up to him. He didn't hate her or blame her, for trying to break the two of them up. Kyrian wouldn't be able to give Nick some of the things that he deserved in his life, but he hoped that loving the teen with his entire being would be enough for the mother and her son.

He stood up and dipped his head respectfully as she looked at him dubiously. "Ma'am, I love you're son. That's a fact as plain as the stars and the moon in the sky. I know I'm not what you pictured when you thought about Nick grown up and in love. I understand that because I felt the same way when Nick said that he liked me and it took some work on his part to convince me that it was a good idea."

Nick had to throw in his two-cents as well, it wouldn't do for his mother to dislike his immortal boyfriend. He stood next to his boyfriend. "I know that you're doubtful, that you just think that Kyrian's using me or something—though I have nothing to offer but myself—but he isn't. He wanted to be all noble and rebuff my pursuit, but I convinced him to be selfish."

Cherise expression pinched and Kyrian knew it was in response to Nick stating he had nothing to offer but his body. The pair could both agree that that wasn't all the teen was.

"You're more than you're body, boo."

"Mom!" he protested, embarrassed. He elbowed Kyrian for the smiled twisting at the corner of his lips. "If that really all you got from that?"

Cherise sighed.

Kyrian decided to just throw it all out on the table, and he confessed a deep and old truth about himself. There was no going around it. Though he would still love Nick no matter Cherise's agreement, it would be nice not to have this weight on their relationship. "I had a wife whom I loved very deeply, but she betrayed me harshly and I didn't see it until it was too late and the blow was crushing. I resigned myself to never loving another person like that again, too frightened of getting my heart broken like that—but then Nick confessed to me and convinced to me that it was worth it to put my heart on the line again. I have a love for your son that is incomparable to what I felt for my wife."

"You... were married." She said slowly after a moment. It seemed that was the first key thing that she zoomed in on; he expected as much. She took a deep breath and pinned her son with a look. "Did you know about this?" He nodded. "And you didn't think to tell me?"

"Why?" he shrugged. _It's not like you're the one dating him,_ but he didn't say that. "It's doesn't bother me."

"Hm." She crossed her arms over her chest as she digested this heavy nugget. "I just want you to be happy, Nicky. To have in the world all that you deserve."

Nick scratched at the back of his neck. "I don't know if I deserve him, but it's him I want—it's him I love."

"It's me who doesn't deserve you, Nick." Kyrian squeezed his hand.

Nick smiled at the man happily. "I _am_ happy, Mom. I've never been so happy in my entire life!"

"Though I would preferred you dating someone your own age," she finally conceded, "All I want is for you to be happy."

Nick sprung at her and crushed her small body against his in a fierce hug. "I love you, Mom!"

"I love you, too, sweetheart." She hugged her son back. They broke apart. "And you," she pinned Kyrian with a hard look. "If you ever hurt my son like that again, a guilty conscious will be the least of your worries."

Kyrian nodded solemnly, taking her threat to heart. There was no doubt in his mind that the petit woman would hunt him down to the ends of the Earth. "You have my word."

"Alright. Now, I want no funny business, you hear."

Nick nodded and crossed his heart. "Though it might be hard, I tend to be funny without even trying."

"Why can't you do one simple thing in your life, Nicholas Ambrosius Gautier." She gave her head a slow shake, but it was that shake that expressed just how much and deeply she loved her son, no matter the trouble he caused.

He gave her a cheeky grin. "You wouldn't love me otherwise!"

She popped him on the butt comfortingly for his smart-alick response, pinned Kyrian with a pointed look and left the room, purposefully leaving the bedroom door open.

Nick waited until she was out of sight and earshot, before he went to the door and closed it nearly all the way before turning back to his lover with a devious and lighted look.

Kyrian raised an eyebrow in response. "And what do you think you're up to?"

Nick flashed him a grin as he slowly stalked towards his prey. "Made a promise, didn't I?"

Kyrian had time to shake his head before Nick pushed him back onto the bed and straddled his lap. "Really? With your mother in the other room?" But he wasn't putting up much of a fight, his hands falling into place on Nick's hips.

Nick leaned over him, hands planted on the mattress on either side of the blonde's head, resting his forehead against the man's. Nick’s tongue fliched against the tip of the his nose.

"Honestly!"

"I'm so glad you're okay." He murmured in all seriousness.

"I'm not going anywhere, I promise." Kyrian whispered against his lips.

Unable to stand the separation anymore, little as it was, Nick captured his lover's lips, inserting his dominance over the man by way of his tongue. He would destroy the world and everyone in it if anyone or thing tried to take the Dark-Hunter from him again!

(the end)   
(click the next chapter to read the Alternate Ending!)

**C—H—R—O—N—I—C—L—E—S ~** O—F **~ N—I—C—K**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Much to my own dismay, as you might have noticed, aspects of INFAMOUS made its way into this fic, as I’d just finished reading it as I started writing this chapter. (I.e. Such as the Noir's demon attack, Nick giving his blood to Artemis in order to save a life.)


	3. BONUS: Alternate Ending!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pairing: Nick(18)/Kyrian -established relationship- -
> 
> Character: Nick, Kyrian, Cherise,  
> w/: Bourban Street,  
> Characters Mentioned: Kyrian's Wife.
> 
> Secondary Note: (Obviously AU) (Probably OOC) Alternate Ending #1!
> 
> Classification: Alternate Ending.

**C —H—R—O—N—I—C—L—E—S ~ **O—F **~ N—I—C—K**

_He never felt this way with his wife, and it wasn't just the sex either. Locking eyes with him, he cupper Kyrian through his open fly and watched as the man sucked in a pleasured breath, his fangs flashing._

**[a/n: Alternate Ending starts now...]**

"Uagh!" There was a very disturbed noise from the doorway and both mens’ gazes shot to the door to find Cherise standing there, frozen, her pretty face twisted.

Kyrian wasn't sure who was the palest of the three of them, but any arousal he had felt evaporated so strongly that there wasn't even steam. Talk about cold turkey.

Both males scrambled to make themselves decent and jumped from the bed, standing awkwardly next to each other.

"Mom!" Nick exclaimed, waving his hands, looking horrified at what she'd just walked in on. "It's not—!"

Cherise's face transformed into anger and disgust. "Get out of my house, you sick man!" she screamed at Kyrian.

Nick was shocked by her reaction to say the least. "Mom," he muttered in confusion. "How can you say that to Kyrian?"

Kyrain faced off against some of the darkest and nastiest things hidden in the shadows, but nothing was more scary than a protective mother of her only son. But he wouldn't let her stand in the way of his love for Nick.

Kyrian stepped up next to Nick and bore his full height—not to be intimidating, but to give himself confidence more like—and looked at her with his intense gaze. "Mrs. Gautier, I love your son. I don't mean to seem rude. I know that even after all these years you still don't trust me, but that doesn't change how I feel about Nick. Nothing you do or say can changed that. I almost let him go once and it killed me."

Nick looked at Kyrian a he thought about what and how he had said. He was startled and betrayed to realized that this wasn't the first time that his mother had spoken to the blonde man this way. He turned a narrowed gaze on his mother, something that he never ever did—but this was just unacceptable.

She looked startled at Kyrian. "How dare you—!" she responded.

"Mom." His tone stopped her cold. "You... You've been trying to sabotage my relationship with Kyrian? Why? Why would you do something so... so... mean-spirited?"

"Oh, Nicky." She murmured. "I'm only doing what's best for you."

Anger overrode his betrayal for a moment. "What's best for me?" But tears quickly sprung into his eyes, "How can you not see how much I love him, how much he loves me? You always told me that I should follow my heart, that no matter who, as long as I loved them and we treated each other right, you didn't care who I went out with."

"He's a grown man and you're just a boy! He should know better than this perversion, _you_ should know better—I didn't raise you to be like this."

"No." He agreed. "You raised to be a man; caring, compassionate... and loving of others. I've never felt this way about anybody. I thought that you'd be happy that I found something—someone in this world that I love just as much as I love you."

Cherise shook her head. "He's not good enough for you. He can't give you the things that you deserve in the world."

Nick shook his own head mutely for a moment, looking at this person who was not the caring, compassionate, understanding woman that had raised him, had kept him even if it pulled the rug from under her. He didn't want to have to choose, and just hoped that she would come to realize that he wasn't breaking it off with the General.

He took Kyrian's hand in his and she narrowed her gaze at his determined look. "I think I'm going to stay at Kyrian's for a little bit, I'll talk to you in a little."

His mother was left speechless as he slipped passed her in doorway, dragging his lover behind him and from the apartment and to the car out front.

When the doors to the Lambo shut, Nick let out a explosive and heavy sigh. "I don't understand what's gotten into her."

"She loves you," Kyrian told him instead.

"If she does, then why is she working so hard to break my heart?"

"That's just what mothers do, Nick. They meddle, because they care—and you love them anyways."

"I just don't understand!" he confessed, hand going up to the side of his face in despair.

"Hey," Kyrian gently took the teen's hand. "You love each other and care for each other, and you'll work through this. And I love and I'll take care of you... even if I have to tie you to the bed."

He gave a small snort at that. "Is that a promise or a threat?" he asked after a moment, slyly.

Kyrian kissed his knuckles. "You decide."

(the end)

**C —H—R—O—N—I—C—L—E—S ~ **O—F **~ N—I—C—K**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that you’re probably thinking that this is very un-Cherise, right? I had the same thought, and thought about putting something in there about her being influenced by silkspeech, but I couldn’t find the opening I needed. Think on that what you will. (it’s called Alternate Ending for a reason).
> 
> Hope you liked it and please Review!


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